Russell T Newman

A piece of propaganda in icwales.co.uk for the Christmas episode of Doctor Who has dubbed Russell T Davies “creator” of Doctor Who.

In the article “Dr Who creator promises Xmas surprises”, there is nothing new to read. Lazy journalism, then, is all that can be blamed for this pretty disgusting statement that as a headline to an article, will be interpreted as fact by many readers.

As most Doctor Who fans know, the show was conceived by Sydney Newman, and developed considerably by the first producer, Verity Lambert with other important direction from the first director Waris Hussain. Russell T Davies has redeveloped these initial ideas as every other producer has since Lambert. To say otherwise is frankly a disgrace.

Nathan Bevan = HACK.

Saturday evening saw the comedy show in aid of ACCORD, the hospice where David Tennantâ€™s mother Helen McDonald recently passed away. It was given good coverage, including in The Stage, which also has a short clip of Toby Hadoke’s “Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf” routine. Also appearing were Mitch Benn and Charlie Ross. David Tennant was unable to appear, reports Midlothian Today busy as he was filming something called Doctor Who…

“I am so sorry I cannot be there but I am shooting the new series of Doctor Who.

“I am very chuffed that this has been done to raise money for charity and my mother would have loved this.

“Many, many thanks and have a great night.”

Joan for Rani?

Elsewhere, the “Rani rumour” has been reawakened. Sunday’s News of the World (the Sunday version of The Sun) claims that Joan Collins has been dragged out of the botox clinic to appear as the renegade Time Lady, reports Digital Spy:

The tabloid quotes an insider in the show as saying: “The Doctor Who team are delighted they’ve managed to sign Joan. It’s a real coup. [She’s] perfect for the role… like Alexis Colby with a sonic screwdriver.”

They also mention that previous Rani actress Kate O’Mara played Alexis’ Colby’s sister in Dynasty, one of those bonkers coincidences which might reveal the true source of the tale… after all, it’s only a few months since Zoe Lucker was touted.

A long-term Doctor Who fan, Christian grew up watching the show and has early memories of the Graham Williams era. His favourite stories are Inferno, The Seeds of Doom and Human Nature (although The Empty Child, Blink and Utopia all come close). When he’s not bossing around the news team, Christian is a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology and domestic computing, and enjoys classic rock, cooking and spending time in the countryside with his wife and young children. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.